I was Olivia Newton-John’s fashion designer
I was Olivia Newton-John’s fashion designer – here’s why she was so different to other spoiled celebs
By Colan Lamont
Photo: Olivia wearing one of Brian’s designs
A fashion designer who dressed Olivia Newton John hailed his old pal as one of the most stylish women in showbiz after she died aged 73.
Brian Rennie, who lives in Dunoon, is a big name behind the scenes in Hollywood after kitting out a galaxy of stars such as Halle Berry, Jennifer Lopez and Catherine Zeta-Jones.
But the 59-year-old, who is married to recent Britain’s Got Talent contestant Ferdinand Rennie, insists that Grease icon Olivia was a cut above the rest.
Speaking after she lost her 30-year battle with breast cancer, he said: “It all started when I was creative managing director at Basler in Germany and Olivia was a good customer at our store at Bloomingdale’s in Florida. One day a sales assistant called me, I thought she was having me on, but she said Olivia loved my stuff and wanted some for her residency in Las Vegas and asked if she could pass on my number.”
“I thought it was a wind up and then one night the phone rang and I heard ‘this is Olivia, how are you?’
“Ferdinand was having kittens on the couch because he’s her biggest fan and she was his inspiration to get into the music business.
They ended up talking for about an hour, I thought they’d never stop. Then finally we got down to the business of what she was looking for.”
Having dressed so many famous faces, Brian knows what to expect from celebrities when it comes to fashion.
But he reckons Olivia was different both in her sense of style as well as old fashioned values after she kept in touch with him over the years - until they last spoke over Christmas when he sensed her health was declining.
He explained: “One of the last times we spoke was after she’d finished her residency in Las Vegas and she was always doing a lot of charity work for cancer.”
“She had her own charity and she asked if I’d mind if she put her stage costumes up for auction to raise money and I said no problem at all. She was one of few celebrities that never tried to get stuff for nothing.”
“Instead she paid straight away and asked for bills and for her to call me and ask after she owned them was amazing. But that’s the type of lady she was, always thinking of other people.”
“She’d phone up, say what she wanted, I sent sketches, we got measurements done, I’d get it made.”
“I’ll never forget the first time I went to see Grease, with the music and her leather trousers.”
“And to then years later do clothes for her. One of the nicest things I remember is she sent me a picture. John Travolta had come to visit her in Las Vegas and she had my leather jacket on and he got on stage and they sang together.”
Brian now runs his entertainment and fashion business Fabscots with Ferdinand, as well as having his own couture business and licensing agreement with German shopping giants HSE.
But he doesn’t think anyone he styles will wear his clothes quite like Olivia.
He added: “She liked to be relaxed, more a trouser and jacket person than dresses , although I did make a couple of dresses for her
“She felt most comfortable in blazers, loose cut, some sparkles, she liked to be comfortable. She liked layering, a jacket over a waistcoat over a blouse and skinny trousers.”
“She’d start off with the whole look then take off the scarf, take off the waistcoat so she’d have different looks.
“She was very practical, there’s very few people in the industry like that.”
Original article